We were singing a worship song a few Sunday’s ago with a line that says, “We will not be shaken, God of our salvation. You are, you are the rock we stand on.” I love that line, but yet something about it felt off. Because the truth is, I am often shaken. It has been a difficult summer at our house, for many different reasons. It has taken a toll on me as a parent, as a wife and as a person.
Then I realized those aren’t the words. The line properly reads
“He will not be shaken, God of our salvation.”
It’s easy for me to forget that disequilibrium is part of life. Things will rarely go according to plan. The nature of this broken world is that things will always move towards disorder and dysfunction. So yes, I will be shaken, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost.
As we sang that song I remembered the scripture we picked out for our wedding. I should preface this story by saying that we were very intentional about this. We prayed and read the Bible a lot, looking for the right verse. For some reason, all the scriptures typically used at weddings, just didn’t feel like a good fit for us.
Then we came across Isaiah 54:10
Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
This felt like the right verse, because yes it was God’s promise to Israel, but it was also the promise we were making to each other. Yes, we have failed at this. There have certainly been times in our thirteen years that our love for each other has been shaken. But it is the unshakable love of God, that has held us fast.
If you look at the full Chapter 54 of Isaiah, it’s a tough chapter. Israel is suffering the consequences of disobedience. Yet God’s love for them endures and he continues to offer them mercy. In the middle of their difficulty is this wonderful promise of his unshakable love and compassion. There are other wonderful promises to cling to in this chapter and I’m going to try to read the full chapter more often to remind myself of them.
Because we will be shaken. Life will throw things at us that we can’t possibly anticipate. We can’t truly know how we will reaction until we face the times of suffering. We may stand strong or we may crumble. (I usually do a bit of both). But His love doesn’t change, is not moved and will not be shaken. He is the rock we stand on, steady against the storm.
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